Okay, here is the situation. Almost a year ago, I rescued a fox terrier, jack russel terrier mix male that was about a year old. I had already a 2 year old female jack russel mix. These two get along like they were ment to be together. They are both fixed. Rocky, the male sometimes has a problem with other dogs. Last month at the dog park, he just went after a female rotty that I was petting, no provacation! Last week, a friend came to stay for awhile and brought his male unfixed cocker spaniel. Rocky gets along with him for the most part, but every once in a while, he just goes after the cocker. Last night he was latched on so tight to the cockers ear, I could not get him loose and ended up getting bit (my fault, I was trying to break it up, and had my hand in the cockers mouth). What is weird is right after, about 20 min, they were around each other again and it was like nothing happened. There was no damage to either dog, just me. My friend thinks that they were just playing rough since afterward neither one showed any problem with the other. I'm just not sure what to do.

I don't really have advice on how to solve your problem if your dog is displaying aggressiveness, but if you are unsure if he was really fighting or just "playing rough," pay attention to their body language. My male and female corgis play very rowdy, jumping on each other, pinning each other to the ground, charging each other down, latching on to each other's ears or cheeks, growling and barking the whole while. I can tell they are playing because their fur isn't ruffled, they are panting or "smileing" before and after biting and not bearing their teeth with a low growl, their tails/tailstubs are wagging, not rigid or tucked between their legs, when they come apart they often "play bow," if they get to rough and the biting hurts one dog, it will shriek and the other will let go, etc. However, my girl is a rescue with a history of food aggresion, and when she displays this, her body laguage is very different. With this in mind, do you still feel it is aggression, or do you think it may just be rough play?

Beualah has certainly latched onto an ear of her best friend Barney (a beagle, so all he's got are ears!!!) when they are wrestling. But, it wasn't in an aggressive way. You can tell if your dog is being aggressive or just playing. Aggressiveness is paired with stiff postures, not play flops and wwf wrestling moves.

"Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else."